In This Life or Any Other
by zestycrouton
Summary: 'What I do know is that I have you now, and I love you now, and that no matter what comes next, in this life or in any other… even if I don't know you… I will always, always be your Zelda.' Post-SS. Part of the ongoing 'Timeline' mini-series.


_I swear, this story went through so many revisions... I just... ugh._

 _Just a quick note before we start: this one-shot is another entry in my unofficial 'Timeline' mini-series in which I explore the ways I think Link and Zelda's dynamic plays out after the various games they appear in. This time, Skyward Sword is up to bat. No, you do not have to have read any of the other stories in this mini-series for this one to make sense, though if you would like to please feel free. Thus far I have posted stories for Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, and two for Ocarina of Time; one for the CT ending (post-MM) and one for the AT ending (pre-WW). You can find them on my profile, obviously._

 _Also, while there is no order whatsoever for these stories, if any of them were to be a starting point, it would be this one; the general 'theme' of this chapter is what serves to tie the rest of the stories together. Why didn't I post this one first, you ask? That's a good question!_

 _...Read on._

* * *

 _ **Timeline**_

 **-Skyward Sword-**

 **In This Life or Any Other**

"Dinner time!"

Link paused to look up at her, raising one of his filthy hands to wipe at his brow, one of the nearly innumerable pieces of wood he'd been diligently trying to shape for the better part of the day resting awkwardly in his lap. He'd removed his shirt at some point, and sweaty as he was, the rays of afternoon sun that filtered down through the canopy of trees overhead glimmered across his tan, muscular torso in a particularly distracting fashion. Not for the first time, Zelda found it hard to keep her eyes focused on his face.

"Do what now?" He asked dumbly, and she rolled her eyes.

"What are you, deaf? I said it's dinner time! Put that down, wash your hands, and put on a shirt before it starts to get cold!"

"I heard what you said," Link explained as he hastily set his work to the side and scrambled to his feet, absently wiping his dust-covered palms on the sides of his already filthy trousers, "I was just double-checking that I heard you correctly. I mean, it's… like the middle of the afternoon. And since when do you cook?"

She frowned reproachfully as he carefully picked his way through the half-assembled framework of timbers, piles of wood and discarded carpentry tools, scooping up his discarded shirt along the way and slipping it over his head.

"What is that supposed to mean? You make it sound like I've never cooked for us ever."

"Not never," he conceded as he extracted himself from the partially completed wooden construct and closed the gap between them, "but close. You hate cooking. That's why you always make me do it."

"True, but this is a special occasion."

"It is?" His brow furrowed. "Why?"

"Because I said so!" She replied, an exaggerated smile on her face, and Link rolled his eyes. "Now come on! I worked hard on this, so you better tell me it's delicious!"

"Yes ma'am!" He mock-saluted, following her to their campsite with a grin.

Their 'campsite' wasn't much to speak of; the main feature was a small fire pit with a cooking pot dangling over the flames, nestled between three large logs that the duo had rolled over in lieu of chairs.

Other than the many displaced odds and ends that pertained to the construction project Link had just been working on, there wasn't much else to see. Nearby, the ruins of the Sealed Temple were barely visible through the dense tree line. It had only been a few weeks since Link had defeated Demise, restoring peace and sanity to their lives, but already the Faron Woods felt comforting and familiar to her.

The chirping of birds, the wind through the trees, the dirt, the bugs, the wide, blue sky overhead… Even though she'd been raised in Skyloft, with its windmills and loftwings and ocean of clouds, she knew in her heart that this… this was home.

The next several minutes were filled with the usual casual banter as they spooned Zelda's attempt at carrot and potato stew into a pair of wooden bowls and settled themselves on a log to eat.

True, it was a little early for dinner, but in actuality this was really supposed to be their lunch. It had taken her too long to find the ingredients, and then actually putting them together and cooking them had taken far longer than she'd expected, so she had finished it a little later. Not for the first time, she wished she'd taken Henya up on her offers to learn how to cook. Luckily, Link hadn't seemed to notice the delay. He'd been too engrossed in his work.

"So what do you think?" He asked through a mouthful of stew, nodding towards their on-going construction project. "It's really coming along, yeah?"

Zelda pursed her lips shrewdly, tilting her head to the side as she gave the rickety skeleton of timbers a critical once-over.

"Um… Don't you think it's a little crooked?"

It definitely was. To be fair, Zelda didn't really know a lot about building houses, but… even though they really only had the foundation and the general framework assembled, she was relatively certain that it wasn't supposed to be listing that much to the side. Maybe it was the wind? Or maybe they hadn't leveled the ground properly? Though if she were being honest, it was probably because she and Link were complete novices and had no idea what they were doing.

In their defense, most people in Skyloft had next to no construction experience whatsoever; there wasn't exactly a lot of space on the island for expansion and most of their buildings were made of stone and had been standing for centuries. Not to mention the shortage of trees up in the sky. There wasn't exactly any way to go about getting practice.

Link, who had spent the last minute or so frowning at the construction project as though searching in vain for some way to refute Zelda's critique, finally gave in with a heavy sigh, his shoulders slumping in resignation.

"It looks awful, doesn't it?" He relented bitterly, scraping away at his mostly-empty bowl in frustration. "Gods, I wish Groose was here."

Zelda snickered in spite of herself, which prompted Link to turn and shoot her a flat, unimpressed look. She quickly swallowed her mouthful of stew.

"I just… I never thought I'd see the day where you admitted that out loud."

"What? The man knows his wood. He could probably get this cabin up in a week. At the rate we're going, we might as well just stick the logs up against each other like a tent and call it a day."

His frustration was getting to him. For some reason, though she knew she wanted the house more than he did, he was taking their lack of progress harder than she was. Zelda reached out and patted him consolingly on the shoulder.

"There, there. We'll get it done eventually, and Groose should be back before long. If we're lucky, we can talk Cawlin and Stritch into sticking around for a couple of days, and then we might really be able to make some progress."

Link grumbled something that sounded like a begrudging affirmation, but his expression was sour; it bothered him, she knew, that he wasn't able to do this one thing for her. It was silly, especially since she was as terrible at it as he was and he had already done so much for her that at times it still blew her away… but he would get over it in time. He was already as close to perfect as a person could get, in her completely unbiased opinion, but even he had to struggle with things. Such as waking up in the mornings. Something he was _still_ completely terrible at.

Another silence descended over them, and Zelda allowed herself a moment to take it in. There was something so… serene about the forest down here on the surface. Setting her bowl down beside her, she leaned over to rest her head on Link's shoulder. A slow smile crept its way onto her face.

This. This was peace. This was what they had been fighting for all along. House or no house, this was the happiest she'd ever been.

"This is what I want, Link." Zelda whispered, snuggling up into his side and taking in a deep breath through her nostrils, reveling in the tang of wood smoke and tree sap and sweat and dirt that had come to comprise her best friend's scent in the weeks that they'd been together in the woods. "To live here on the surface in peace, together with our friends and family and everyone we love."

"Mmm." Link replied, and she could feel the rumble of his chest through her cheek, deep and comforting and familiar. "Can you imagine it, though? One day, this entire field could be full of houses, just like up on Skyloft. An entirely new settlement… I can hardly even picture it. I don't think there are enough of us to handle running two towns."

"Two towns?" She asked playfully. "Is that it? You have to think bigger than that, Link. I'm picturing dozens of towns, hundreds of people, spread all over the surface- Eldin and Lanayru and Faron, over in the central plains or the mountains to the north-east, or… well, wherever, really. Prosperity. That's what the Old Gods wanted for us. What Hylia wants for us. One day, we're going to make it happen. Just wait and see."

"Dozens of towns?" His voice sounded disbelieving. "Hundreds of people? By the time that happens, Zelda, assuming it ever happens, both of us will be long dead."

"Doesn't matter." She replied, nuzzling his shoulder with her forehead. "My dream will be achieved by our children, and our children's children, and our children's children's children… It's a new future for our people, Link. And you and I get to be the start of it."

She smiled up at him as he turned to look at her, but there was something coy burning in the back of his eyes.

" _We_ get to start it, huh?" He said, his lips quirking up into a smirk. " _Our_ children? I don't think your father would be too happy to hear that kind of talk coming from you. Y'know, given his attitude about us living together down here without being married."

Zelda groaned, pulling away from Link to rub at her eyes. She loved her father, she really did… but he had been very vocal in his displeasure at the thought of her choosing to live down on the surface, and alone with Link of all things. Not that he disliked Link; on the contrary, the two had always gotten along famously, and he was very supportive of the idea of the two of them one day being wed… emphasis on 'one day'. However, that would require Zelda returning to Skyloft so he could perform the ceremony (when he deemed she was 'mature enough'), which she was determined not to do.

It wasn't so much because she was afraid he'd try to keep her there; undoubtedly he'd try, but it was a small flying island in the sky. All she had to do was fall off and call for her loftwing, and she'd be back on the surface in a matter of minutes. No, it was the principle of the thing that mattered; her father was being silly about not coming down to the surface, so she was dangling her and Link's marriage over his head like a treat over a misbehaving pet. If he wanted them married so badly, he'd get over his paranoia and fly down and see to it himself.

Hopefully that would be sooner rather than later. She missed her father and would like to be married to Link eventually. She wanted all of her family to be happy and together. But for now, as long as she and Link were together, that was all that really mattered.

Another brief silence passed as the two reclined comfortably in the small clearing in front of their partially completed cottage. These were the moments that Zelda lived for, these quiet little snippets of warm contentment that made all the terror that had accompanied the return of Demise seem worthwhile. Just her and Link. That was all she needed. Sometimes, she wondered if the smile would ever truly leave her face.

Link shuffled uncomfortably beside her, one of his classic tells that he was preparing to say something.

Zelda lifted her head off his shoulder to look at him, an expectant quirk to her eyebrows.

"Zelda," he began, a strangely uncomfortable tint coloring his voice as he carefully avoided eye-contact, "I, uh… Well I was wondering… um…"

He looked so cute when he was flustered. Sniggering, she prodded his ribs with her finger, prompting him to jerk about spastically as he desperately tried to squirm out of her way. "Wondering what? Why are you being so bashful? Just go ahead and say it; you're not going to scare me off now."

"Alright, alright!" He laughed, snatching her fingers and tangling them up in his own so she couldn't poke at him anymore. "It's just… I was thinking about it, and… Do you know what's going to happen to Hylia's soul? I mean, y'know… in the future, after we're gone?"

Zelda stared, taken aback. Of all the things for him to bring up, this topic was certainly unexpected.

He caught the look of surprise on her face and misinterpreted, hastily backpedaling.

"S-sorry! I mean I know this might be a bit of a touchy subject, I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable-!"

"No, no," she cut in quickly, retracting her hands from his so she could squeeze his knee consolingly, "it's fine. I was just surprised is all. I mean… death? Yikes. Why were you thinking about something like that?"

"Well… It's just, you were talking about, y'know, the future of our people and our descendants and the Goddess's will, and I mean… I guess I just started wondering…"

There he was, being perfectly adorable again. Biting back a smile, she settled once more against his shoulder and let out a pleasant sigh as she wracked her brains for some way to sum up her understanding on the issue so she could explain it in a way he'd understand.

"Honestly, Link, I'm… not really sure." She paused for a moment to frown at how lame that sounded, then hurried on before Link could tease her. "Though the Goddess and I are technically one and the same, and though I did get back some of my godly memories when I was praying at the springs… well, honestly, it's not like I ever remembered _everything_. Most of what being a goddess entails is just as foreign to me as it is to you. But I do know a few things."

She had Link's full and undivided attention now, so she sat up a little straighter, feeling a little put on the spot but eager to explain things as clearly as she knew how.

"For starters… she isn't coming back. The Goddess, I mean. Hylia's soul is my soul, and my soul is now forever bound to the mortal plain. In other words… though my soul is divine, I am still a mortal, and when I die it will do as all mortal souls do. I won't revert to being the Goddess ever again."

Link's eyes were wide, his mouth slightly agape. She wanted to reach up and close it, but restrained herself; they were being serious now, it wouldn't do to spoil the mood by playing with him.

"So then…" he said after a moment's hesitation, "Hylia is dead?"

"No, Link. I am Hylia." She deadpanned, and he laughed nervously, waving his hands in the air.

"Right, no, sorry. I mean, like, the Goddess. She's… she's gone for good now?"

He sounded so somber, so reverent… She bumped his shoulder playfully with her own.

"Does that disappoint you? Would you rather have her instead of me?"

She was kidding, of course, trying to divert the conversation away from getting too sad, and was delighted when he flashed her a brief smile and nudged her back with a coy, "What's that supposed to mean? I thought you were Hylia."

She beamed approvingly. "Now you're catching on."

"Still though, wow…" He let out a breath and gazed forward at their shoddy, half-constructed home. "So then… what about the rest of us? What does happen to mortal souls when we die?"

Well now, he was getting into those deep thoughts today, wasn't he? She shrugged. "Well, if you believe Professor Horwell, when a living being dies, they get reincarnated into a new life."

"But is that true?" Link asked quickly. "I mean, from your memories of Hylia, do you know if that's actually what happens to us, or is that just a theory?"

"I can't be completely certain…" Zelda replied slowly, "But it feels right… and I mean, Hylia technically reincarnated herself at least once, didn't she? So we know that reincarnation is at least possible… I don't know. I guess my best answer to that is that I would like to believe that it's true."

She was worried for a moment that he'd be irritated by her lack of a definitive answer, but she shouldn't have bothered; this was Link she was talking to, after all.

"There are worse things than that, I suppose." He conceded, a cheeky grin on his face. "Besides, that way, I get the chance to grow up tormenting you all over again."

She let out an unexpected burst of laughter.

"Excuse me?! I seem to recall that I was always the one tormenting you!"

To emphasize the point, she jabbed at his sides again with her fingers, and for a moment their conversation derailed into a miniature tickle war that nearly resulted in both of them falling backward off the log they were seated on. It ended with Link's arm wrapped around her torso, firmly pinning her arms to her sides so she could no longer move.

She shot him an exaggerated pout which he promptly ignored. Her puppy-dog looks never had worked on him. Too many years of being taken advantage of, she supposed. That was the problem with falling in love with your childhood best friend; he knew all her tricks.

"I win." He gloated, claiming his reward by pecking her swiftly on the cheek, and she scoffed.

"Please. I gave that one to you."

"My my, someone's a poor loser. What happened to all of that godly grace?"

"It died." She deadpanned, her tone as flat as possible, and a grave silence filled the clearing for a moment… until it was broken by the sound of her sniggering into Link's chest.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry…!"

"You tell the worst jokes." He scoffed, releasing her from his imprisoning embrace. "If Hylia could see you now…"

"She probably could. She could see everything from the edge of time, after all. And I bet she'd be on my side."

"Oh yeah… She did say something like that, didn't she?" Link said absently as he stood, gathering up his and Zelda's dishes and setting them aside; they'd need to be washed soon, otherwise they'd attract bugs. "That she spoke to me from the edge of time… I wonder if she's looked ahead to all our future lives. It's kinda creepy in a way."

"Hey now, I should be allowed to look forward into my future lives without being considered creepy!" Zelda joked as she joined him on her feet.

"If you only looked into your future, maybe." He conceded. "But I think we both know you were busy checking me out."

"You wish." She laughed, giving him a playful shove. "Besides, who says you'll even be part of my next life? For all we know, we'll be strangers."

She'd said it flippantly, not really paying attention to her words, and as she busied herself with putting away the supplies she'd used to cook their supper and gathering what she'd need to take to the creek to wash, she didn't notice how Link had stiffened or the odd look that had covered his face.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

She glanced up and finally took notice of the disgruntled expression on his face. Confused, she replayed their conversation in her mind and winced. The way she'd phrased it, it almost sounded like she didn't care if they knew each other in any of their potential future lives, which wasn't true at all. She just… well, honestly, she didn't think it mattered how the current her felt.

"Well… think about it," she reasoned slowly, keeping her tone light in case she accidentally offended him, "even if we are born again, what are the chances that it'll be in the same time period? Or that we'll be close enough in age for it to matter, or that we'll find each other again? I mean, if me being Hylia tells us anything, it's that we don't retain memories across lifetimes… Even if you and I are lucky enough that all the stars align and we stumble into each other, who's to say that we'd fall in love again? For all we know, in the next life, we may hate each other."

Something inside of her rankled at the thought, but she pushed it off. She was only being rational, after all; there was no need to go getting upset over it… even if the very thought of living a life without Link made her feel nauseous. Whenever their new lives started (again, assuming they _had_ new lives), they wouldn't remember this one, and they wouldn't remember that they had once loved each other. They'd effectively be entirely new people, with new desires and new futures and new paths to walk. And those paths would very probably not lead to each other.

Still… she felt a little guilty; there was Link, just trying to be sweet and romantic like he always was, and instead of playing along with what was honestly a harmless conversation she instead had to go and throw reason into the equation and ruin the mood. This right here is exactly why it took so long for them to get together in the first place; she was always getting in her own way.

"You're wrong." Link declared emphatically, cutting through Zelda's thoughts and making her blink in surprise.

"I… huh? Wrong about what?" Had he read her mind?! It was frightening how often his actions left her asking herself that question over the years.

"About us. About the likelihood of us finding each other again. You're wrong."

She stared for a moment, nonplussed, then decided to play along.

"Ok, fine… how am I wrong?"

"Three things." He replied, holding up his fingers to illustrate. There was a stupid grin on his face, like he was eager to be the one to school her for once. He was such a child sometimes.

"First," he announced, ticking off one of his fingers, "is what Demise said right before he finally died. The curse he placed on our progeny."

Zelda frowned. Demise's curse was a terrifying possibility, the promise of a seemingly never-ending repetition of calamity and crisis for their descendants. Not exactly the sort of thing she'd expected him to use as evidence in their silly romantic dispute over theology and the prospect life after death. In spite of how it went against her better judgment, she was intrigued.

"Go on."

"He cursed the bloodline of the Goddess, meaning specifically your children. Tell me, Zelda, if the soul of Hylia was going to reincarnate into any bloodline, whose do you think it would be?"

She quirked an eyebrow.

"That's a pretty big assumption to make, but I guess I can see the logic behind it. So what?"

"He also cursed me, or specifically 'those with the spirit of the hero'- "

"Maybe, but that could also just mean anyone with a heroic spirit- "

"Zelda, please." Link cut in, a flat look on his face, and she could detect a thin, underlying vein of humor in his tone. He was still trying to keep the conversation light and playful despite the potentially heavy undercurrent. "This is personal. Why would he curse some other random hero when I'm the one he's got a problem with?"

He ticked off his second finger dramatically as though ending any further discussion on the matter.

Zelda rolled her eyes; he was just playing with her now, but she went along with it to humor him.

"Ok, Ok… so what are you getting at?"

"Isn't it obvious? If you're going to reincarnate into your own bloodline and my spirit is the one being targeted… then clearly you and I are going to have to be together whenever Demise's curse comes into effect. If his threat is the real deal, then we'll have to meet again. It's as simple as that."

She stared. From the triumphant grin on his face, you'd have thought he'd won their argument as assuredly as if he'd wished for his victory on the Triforce itself.

With all the flippancy she could muster, she let out a flat, "That isn't three things."

Link turned his gaze down at his fingers in consternation.

"Also, while I can definitely see a sort of twisted logic behind that – keeping in mind that it relies on several large, weighty assumptions – I just don't think I can get behind it as a theory."

He looked up at her, turning his betrayed eyes from his digits to her face.

There she was, ruining the mood again… but it was like something had taken possession of her tongue, forcing her to keep talking. She flashed him a weak, apologetic smile.

"Look, Link, I'm not trying to sound pessimistic or ambivalent or like I don't care, it's just… I mean, logically speaking- "

"Who cares about logic?" He cut in, sounding gruff, and finally, it seemed like his playful pretense had fallen. " _Logically speaking_ , the both of us should be dead. If not at the hands of monsters or one of the many natural hazards we had to face, or by the perils of the temples, or the plans of Ghirahim, then definitely by Demise himself. And yet here we are, both of us, alive and well.

"And I know what you're going to say," he added hastily before she could continue, "that we had Hylia's guidance and foresight to aid us, but even still, the fact that we're both sitting here right now is a miracle. And after everything we've been through, I'm not going to let anything take you away from me, not even death or the laws of the Old Gods or anything. Nuh-uh, don't laugh, I'm being serious. I don't care if it sounds crazy; I mean, it's not like it'll be the first time some all-powerful being from some higher plane of existence tried to keep us apart.

"Whatever it takes, Zelda." And here, his voice took on a surprisingly heavy quality. It seemed to press down on her chest, constricting her heart, leaving her momentarily breathless. "That's what I'll do. Even if we forget, even if we're divided by space or time or Demise's curse… You're a part of my soul now. I'll know you, even if I don't remember why. And I'll find you. Every time. In every lifetime. Count on that."

He nodded emphatically as though to punctuate the end of his statement, then turned and walked away, marching back over to the skeleton of their would-be house, ripping off his shirt as he went. He didn't look back again before busying himself once again in his work, though if he had, he would have found her standing there, staring after him, completely lost for words.

In a removed sort of way, she knew that he was just trying to be sweet, but Link could be as resolute and determined as he wanted and it wouldn't change anything; nobody knew what was waiting for them after this life had ended, and even if they were to reincarnate, and even if they happened to find each other again, there was nothing to suggest that he would know her, or that she would know him.

She loved him for how much he cared, but at the end of the day, how much they cared wasn't really relevant before the uncompromising, unyielding, unfeeling, inexorable maw of death that awaited every mortal life once its days had drawn to a close. It was that very fact that had given Hylia's sacrifice so much meaning in the first place.

She knew this. And deep down, she knew that Link knew it too. This wasn't denial; he wasn't a fool. He'd faced his own mortality more than once in his quest to save her. Eventually, he would come around to the cold, harsh truth of her words, and rather than wallow in despair they would simply have to choose to live out the rest of their days basking in the happiness they'd carved out for themselves and loving each other as much as possible while they had the chance. That was what it was to be mortal. Finding one's own happiness and clinging to it for as long as possible. And yet…

And yet…

She set their dishes back down, gathering her skirts so she could pick her way through the discarded tools and chunks of semi-worked wood without the hems snagging. She made her way to him slowly, her heart in her throat. Logic or no, she knew she'd messed up. And she wasn't sure how to fix it. She hated this part.

He was sitting quietly, his back towards her, roughly smoothing away the edges of another large, unwieldy hunk of wood with his scratch tool. His movements were awkward and a little jerky, but she couldn't tell if that was because he was upset or if that was just his usual lack of carpentry skills showing.

Letting out a shaky breath and offering up a silent prayer to… well, anyone who might be listening (who did she pray to now that she knew that she was Hylia? The Old Gods? Herself?), she carefully knelt behind Link, conscious of the fact that he'd obviously heard her approaching but hadn't acknowledged her presence, and extended a tremulous hand, letting it rest on his back.

"Link…"

"It's alright, Zelda." Link cut in gently, focusing intently on the wood in his hands. "I'm not mad. And I know what you're going to say; you're right, and it's ridiculous that I'm letting myself be so annoyed about a silly conversation and something that's completely outside of our control. I'll get over it in just a bit. Don't worry."

She smiled sadly, leaning forward to rest her forehead against his skin.

"How am I not supposed to worry when I know you're upset?"

Another quiet moment passed in which she remained where she was, kneeling behind him, enjoying the feel of the breeze and the rasp of the blade against wood. His skin was sticky, but she didn't mind; he was warm.

After a while, he whispered, "I mean what I said."

"I know." She replied softly, feeling her guilt eating away at her again.

"And I know I'm being silly, but I'm not going to take it back- "

"Link."

Silence. His hands kept working away at the wood, but he waited for her to speak. Something inside of her wavered.

"I think… I think I believe you."

His movements stilled as her words washed over him.

"…You what?"

"Not because I think you're right," she clarified gently, "but because I want to believe you're right. I guess what I'm saying is… if I have to believe something, and I don't really have any evidence one way or the other, then… I might as well choose to believe in the one that's worth believing in."

"Zelda- " Link tried to cut in, sounding exasperated, but she ran him over.

"I don't know what the future has in store for us, Link. I don't know when we'll be reborn, or where we'll be reborn, or even if we'll be reborn. I don't know if I'll ever find you again once this life of ours is through. And the thought of that hurts me just as badly as it hurts you, Link, I promise.

"What I do know is that I have you now, and I love you now, and that no matter what comes next, in this life or in any other… even if I don't know you… I will always, _always_ be your Zelda."

She felt him stiffen against her as her words echoed back from out of their past, from the day she'd made the exact same emphatic promise moments before sealing herself away in her amber prison for thousands of years. In a way, waking up from that sleep had been a lot like being reborn, and he'd been right there waiting for her, just like he'd promised.

If it had happened before, it could happen again. Or at least… it was possible. This wouldn't be the first time she'd bet her happiness on the long odds.

Wordless, Link turned to face her, dropping his tools onto the ground and pulling her into his arms. She accepted his embrace, heedless of how sweaty he was, allowing him to pull her in close as she buried her face into the crook of his neck and took him in.

This was what she had fought for. This was what she'd sealed herself away for, what she'd risked the fate of the world for, what she'd given up her immortality for. This moment, this happiness, this peace. This man.

It would take a goddess greater than Hylia to tell what the future would bring them. But if there was any justice in the world or in the laws the Old Gods had seen fit to establish it on, the future would see her eventually back into his arms again. And she was prepared to pay any price to see that it would be so. Just as she had before.

But for now… For now, she had this moment, and the days and months and years that stretched out before them, in the future of _this_ life, that they had won for themselves. Not for the first time, she vowed to live her life to its fullest. And maybe one day, she could pass it along to her children, and her children's children, and her children's children's children. So that they might be able to learn from them, and find a happiness all their own.

The legend of her and her Hero, and the land that was theirs.

* * *

 _So... ok. Yeah. There's that one._

 _Honestly, I fought with this chapter a lot. Initially, it was supposed to be various comical scenes of the duo trying to build a house together, but like... I dunno, for the life of me I could not get myself to write that story. Like, I still like that idea better, but for some reason, whenever I sat down to write it... nothing. Just, nothing would come. Writer's block, you ruin everything..._

 _The end result turned out ok, I think. Not quite as good as I wanted, but... eh. This version of Zelda is interesting because, unlike literally every other Zelda in the franchise, this is the only Zelda who isn't a princess or in a leadership position of some kind. She's... just a regular teen like Link, with a regular personality, and I love her. Ok, yeah, she winds up finding out she's the reincarnation of a Goddess, but... whatever. She's still pretty chill._

 _Fun Fact: the 'I'm still your Zelda' quote/scene from SS is hands-down my absolute favorite moment in Zelda history (it's the scene where she seals herself in the crystal), beating out even classic lines from WW Ganondorf, or the Kafei/Anju reunion, or Ganondorf playing the organ all dramatic like, or the first time you stand on that hill on the plateau in BotW... I love it even more than Mido's life-changing words of wisdom: 'Without a fairy, you're not even a real man!'. This is serious business, people. SS gets a lot of hate, some of it deserved, some of it blown out of proportion, but I want to give credit where credit is due: that scene is amazing._

 _Finally, a word on the reincarnation theory and Zelda lore in general: I realize that 'reincarnation' is a popular though hotly contested theory in the Zelda fandom. Obviously, this story subscribes to that theory. I get that some people don't like that, but I hope you can look past that for the sake of the narrative. I mean, it's... kinda what this entire mini-series is predicated on. This should come as a surprise to literally no one. And as for Hylia never returning to being a goddess... honestly, that's just the way that SS seems to lean when talking about her. I get that BotW kinda... makes that weird, but let's just all agree for a moment that, as beautiful as BotW is, in terms of lore and continuity, it's a hot mess. So whatever. Sue me._

 _Up next will either be Minish Cap (that story will be titled 'Romio and Julietta') or A Link Between Worlds. Or I guess my BotW entry ('It Takes a Village'), but I kinda still want to distance myself from BotW for the time being. I still feel like 'I'll Walk With You' was finished, like, yesterday._

 _...cool cool. Lemme know if you see typos. You know the drill._

 _Keep it Zesty._

 _ZC_


End file.
